REVIEW: SCOUT Mineral Eye Shadow and Mineral Eye Liner Pencil

I was introduced to Australian cosmetic brand SCOUT very recently when I was given the offer to review some of their mineral eye makeup products (with a nail polish thrown in for good measure swatched here). 

I literally, embarrassingly, had very little knowledge of this local brand so I did some research to see what SCOUT's point of difference is.  I'm starting this post with some background info to bring everyone else up to speed if you're like me and new to SCOUT Cosmetics too.

Pursuing her lifelong interest in natural therapies Sylvie Hutchings started the SCOUT Cosmetics brand in 2008 to create a natural cosmetics line which did not sacrifice performance or style to offer "...colour, style, luxury and effectiveness of great cosmetics and skincare without being exposed to potentially harmful or unnecessary ingredient compounds of which the long term effects are unclear."  Therefore SCOUT mineral cosmetics are:

• Formulated, tested and manufactured to meet all Australian and international standards
• A proud signatory to the campaign for safe cosmetics
• 100% Australian made
• Not tested on animals
• Certified vegan
• Water resistant and can be worn while playing sport
• Made from only pharmaceutical grade, naturally derived Australian minerals or organic botanicals
• Rated SPF 15 as a natural sunscreen
• Lightweight, non-comedogenic - allowing your skin to breathe
• Free of bismuth oxychloride
• Free of parabens, synthetic FD & C classified dyes, clays, mineral oil or petroleum derived ingredients
• Free of lanolin, beeswax or any other generic fillers



Got all that? Okay, so let's talk about some products!

 

Mineral Eye Shadow

 Clockwise from Left to Right:
Run Baby Run (matte mineral eye shadow), Sunday Girl (shimmery mineral eye shadow), Vegan shadow and brow brush

"Modern - Elegant - Colours have been created to give you a versatile palette for day or evening..."

My impressions:
The 22 mineral eye shadows are available in matte or shimmery finishes so I chose one of each finish in complementary shades.  Run Baby Run is a matte medium brown and my idea of an everyday crease shade.  I've worn Run Baby Run a few times now and I really love the colour on me so it's likely to creep into my Monday to Friday routine.  More importantly I really enjoy the ease of working with it - considering this is a loose powder shadow (and I'm a klutz!) fallout is minimal, it applies smoothly, blends out beautifully, and it lasts all day without fading or creasing.   My other choice, Sunday Girl is not as high a shimmer as I'm used to when I think of shimmers but this soft peachy gold works well as a subtle lid shade or highlight and apart from a little more fallout overall performs as well as the matte shadow.  These shadows can be worn dry as I've worn so far (and swatched later in this post) or wet for more drama.

The double ended vegan shadow and brow brush (my bad for only showing half the brush above!) does a great job of picking up and packing the shadow on the lid and placing colour into the crease although I did find I needed a crease brush (say MAC 217) to really blend out the crease and soften it the way I prefer.

Mineral Eye Shadow Ingredients:
Mica (CI 77019) may contain (+/-) Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891) Iron Oxides (CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499) Chromium Oxide Green (CI 77288) Ultramarines (CI 77007) Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289) Pigment Violet (77742)

Mineral Eye Liner Pencil

Mineral Eye Liner Pencil (Grey)

"Glides on effortlessly to outline and define your eyes.  Soft and creamy formula will not drag the skin as you apply."

My impressions:
I always think of eye liner pencils as sleek skinny pencils, so these pencils are more like jumbo crayons to me and confused me at first.  Obviously they're not going to be your thing if you're into precision lining! I've tried Grey on my upper lash line and it gives a nice soft-focus definition along the lashes which is something a little different for me but different in a flattering way - no smudging required.  The pencil doesn't drag at all because of the oils and waxes in the formula - even over powder shadow - although because it is so soft I'd suggest setting it with matching shadow if using it on the lower lash line to keep it in place.  Sharpening keeps the tip tapered for lining. 

SCOUT Mineral Eye Liner Pencils are available in 6 shades (black, brown, grey, violet, green, and white).

Ingredients:
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil* Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax Tocopherol Mica (CI 77019) Zinc Oxide Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract may contain (+/-) Tin Oxide (CI 778161) Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891) Iron Oxides (CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499) Chromium Dioxide Green (CI 77288) Ultramarines (CI 77007) Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289) Pigment Violet (77742)

 

 Swatched dry on the back of my hand. Left to Right:
Mineral Eye Shadows (Sunday Girl, Run Baby Run), Mineral Eye Liner Pencil (Grey)

 

And in action for a daytime look: 

Overall I think this range is a good quality choice for women who have sensitive skin, or want to stick with a natural mineral product and still want to play with colour on their eyes. 

 SCOUT Mineral Eye products can be purchased from their online store here.


(Products were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

REVIEW: Blinc Cosmetics (Eye Shadow Primer, Lash Primer, Mascara Amplified, Liquid Eyeliner)

 

Blinc Cosmetics have recently launched in Australia and I've been trying out a number of their much raved about eye products. Going on a Queensland beach holiday came in very handy for this little exercise because I was able to seriously put them to the test for myself to see if they really do "...combine ease of use, with the performance no other product can match".  Are blinc eye products really sweat-proof, flake-proof, run-proof and water-proof?  Grab yourself a cuppa, glass of wine, or whatever happens to be your beverage of choice and get comfortable for a mega review because I have four products to get through here!  If you're in Melbourne I'd suggest you get your blanket out too because it's suddenly very cold down here...

 

Let's set the scene with this excerpt from blinc Australia's website: 

 

"Our Life Proof promise

Is to help beautify your eyes by continuously introducing technologically superior eye cosmetics, such as the 'tube-forming' mascara, 'peelable' eyeliner and eyebrow mousse.

ALL blinc products offer complete performance worthy of a prestige cosmetics brand. Namely; ease of application, endless wear, and effortless removal.

ALL blinc products offer our Life Proof properties being smudge-proof, sweat-proof, water-resistant and flake proof, so you can exercise, cry, swim, hit the beach and do everything else you want to do in your busy schedule feeling confident your eyes look as good when you take your blinc makeup off, as you did when you first put it on!

That's the blinc Life Proof promise that women around the world have grown to love and trust."

 

Eye Shadow Primer

After reading the intro above you shouldn't be surprised to hear blinc claim this primer holds eye shadow in place without creasing, smudging or fading through a sweaty workout or even in "harsh weather conditions".  I have very oily eyelids so I need a good primer to prevent my eye shadow from the inevitable creasing even without extreme conditions - some primers just don't cut it for me at all, particularly cream products posing as eye shadow bases because they never quite dry on the eyelids and can sometimes give me a worse result than going without. That said, I'm a good candidate to put eye shadow primer to the test!

 Blinc also call this primer a fountain of youthful colour, as aside from anchoring eye shadow in place the claims include a "53% increase in skin's moisture after just one week" and a "63% decrease in fine lines and wrinkles after six weeks".  Okay, I have almost 48 year old eyelids so I'll welcome anti-aging in that area!

My impressions:
  As you can see above the primer is applied with a doe-foot applicator and is quite an opaque formula, so only a little dab is needed which I patted gently over my lids to even out then allowed to dry for a few seconds.   The shade I've tried here (Light Tone) is quite light but I found it good as an eye brightening base, although a darker shade (Flesh Tone) is also available. 

This primer most definitely held my eye shadow in place no matter what I did! I put it through 3km runs (where the rest of my face melted off in a hot, sweaty mess yet my eye shadow looked 100% freshly applied), humid weather, swimming in the resort pool, and long 16 hour days.  It stayed on until I decided to take it off with remover.  As a point of further amusement for me the primer I patch tested on the back of my hand stayed there for nearly two days - yes I did shower and wash my hands - until I used some makeup remover! This stuff really, really works. 

Okay - so what about the anti-aging claims?  It hasn't been six weeks yet so I can't assess overall wrinkle reduction, however this product immediately provides a smoother base for my eye shadow so my eyes do look fresher when made up.  My eye shadow seems to glide on more easily when applying over blinc primer and of course the pigment looks more vibrant too.  So far I am pretty impressed on all fronts with blinc eye shadow primer and I'll continue to use it every day on my lids.


Lash Primer

Blinc Lash Primer has been developed to "...nourish and enhance lashes..." with its Vitamin E enriched formula while adding "...incredible volume and length that amplifies your mascara's effect." Multiple coats may be applied for desired volumising, lengthening effect and removal (even when topped with mascara) only requires a "generous dose of warm water".  It can be used alone as an overnight treatment for the lashes or beneath mascara for immediate oomph.  This primer can also be brushed onto eyebrows.

My lashes are already rather long but I liked the idea of pampering them (I never thought of conditioning my eyelashes!) and thickening them without using scary dry fibres which I'm forever terrified might fall into my eyes. 

My impressions:
The brush is made up of soft, flexible bristles in a spiral pattern which easily pick up the creamy primer and evenly sweep it through the lashes.  I've been getting away with a single coat on my lashes as a daytime volumiser but I've applied two coats here (waiting the recommended 30 seconds setting time between coats) for full effect. 

I like the idea of controlling the amount of volume and the primer certainly delivers a good amount of volume even with one coat and emphasises the length of my lashes.  My lashes are visibly thicker but still defined and feel super soft and conditioned - I hate crunchy, brittle feeling lashes -  and there are no nasty fibres to worry about so this product should also be a safe choice for contact lens wearers. 

Removal is as easy as blinc say and I either remove this primer (usually worn under my mascara) with cotton pads soaked in warm water or in the shower. 

Naked eyes with lash primer.  Yup my lashes are up to my eyebrows:

Mascara Amplified

Blinc have quite a few rave points about their Mascara Amplified:  It makes all of the "Life Proof" claims outlined in this post intro (smudge-proof, sweat-proof, water-resistant and flake proof), coats lashes with a "glossy, volumizing and extending" coat that forms tiny water resistant “tubes” around the lash, and differently from the traditional tubing mascara the Amplified formula allows for "buildable, glamorous volume and length" as multiple coats may be applied.  Blinc also promise this mascara removes as easily as the traditional tubing formula, with only warm water and gentle pressure from fingertips or a cloth.

I've heard of tubing mascaras but had never tried them myself until now.  I'm one of those people who wears mascara 365 days a year, through all life's daily demands including exercise so I was totally armed to test something which promises to hold fast - and then removes with just warm water and a little gentle rubbing!

My impressions:
I've tried Amplified alone and over blinc lash primer.  The soft bristle brush is very much the same as the lash primer so it easily sweeps through to coat my lashes.  The Amplified formula is glossy but not too wet so it is easy to build up coverage with multiple coats (I've applied two quick coats below) as the mascara glides on without clumping. 

This mascara really does wear as well as it claims too as I wore it through sweaty exercise sessions, swimming and even dared to leave it on overnight just to see what would happen (not something I normally do!) and it stayed put with no flaking whatsoever. 

Despite the budge-proof wear I was amazed at how easily and thoroughly Amplified removes with warm water and a little gentle rubbing.  It's a bit weird seeing the little tubes, which look disconcertingly like lashes on my fingertips in the shower but of course my lashes were all still there and 100% bare afterwards.  Absence of panda eyes is guaranteed with this stuff (unlike more traditional waterproof formulas which can sometimes resist the even most effective makeup removers - I go to bed thinking I've done the job only to find tell-tale smudges in the morning).   I'm impressed with Amplified because I just love the ease of it. 

Amplified is available in black or dark brown.

Lashes dressed with two coats of Mascara Amplified.  Yes they really ARE up to my eyebrows:

Liquid Eyeliner

 

Blinc say their Liquid Eyeliner is different from traditional liquid liners as rather than performing like a paint this liner applies a water-resistant "layer of colour"  which "cannot fade, run, smudge or flake, even if you cry or rub your eyes". 

If you've read from the top of the post you know what I'm going to say next:  when you're ready to remove it blinc liner should "slide off" with the combination of lots of warm water and a little gentle pressure applied with fingertips or a wet cloth. 

 

 My impressions:
The soft fine-tipped brush allowed the liner to glide on smoothly and precisely so liquid liner-phobe me found it quite easy to get a straight (well not too shaky!) line and I was able to build up it up for glossy looking definition along my upper lash line.  It does set quite quickly so once it's on it's on - although you can make refinements with a warm water dipped cotton bud if you do need to.

I loved the glossy, vinyl looking black line. It stayed looking freshly applied and didn't bleed, fade or transfer from my lids all day, including through an exercise session.  It didn't budge until I decided to make it budge with warm water soaked cotton pads - it didn't necessarily slide off my lids when I rubbed them but it did thoroughly remove without any residue left behind.  No panda eyes!

Blinc Liquid Liner is available in four colours:  black, dark blue, medium brown and grey.


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If I had to pick my "wow" blinc product from the four I've reviewed I'd cheat and pick two - Eye Shadow Primer because it provides a smooth eye shadow base which stands up to my oily eyelids with zero creasing and Mascara Amplified because I rely on waterproof mascara and I love how gently and thoroughly Amplified removes with warm water. 

Of course all of the four products do as they say so there are no fails here in terms of performance - this range is worth checking out if you need your eye makeup to go the distance.  Blinc products are safe for contact lens wearers.

Click here for your nearest blinc stockist.


(Products were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)